A STUDY OF PALM OIL PRODUCTION

ABSTRACT

This has examined the indigenous people of Ejigbo community and their technological development in terms of the production and marketing of the oil palm in the area. The palm oil industry in Ejigbo community is an indigenous technology. This is due to the fact that industry had a standard organizational structure and everything occurred following due process. The production, processing and marketing of the oil palm requires quite a lot of labour from different people. The degree to which labour is required depends largely on the type of oil which is to be produced. With the kind of demand placed on oil palm in the 20th century, it is obvious that the kind of labour required would have been enormous. This because labour will be involved in all aspects of the production of this commodity. For example, labour is needed for the planting and tending of the palm trees and the clearing away of unneeded undergrowth. At the same time, labour is needed for the harvesting and processing of the palm fruits into oil palm and lastly, labour is required in the marketing of the processed oil palm. The research gives us an insight into the population of people in the Ejigbo community who were involved in the oil palm industry. women constituted the majority of labour in the oil palm industry in the 20th century. While, the women produced the palm oil while the men were focused on the cultivation and harvesting of the nuts form the trees. In terms of method of production, it was highlighted that the traditional method of processing oil palm was employed, and although the method is hectic and time consuming, it has been the method used by the Ejigbo people from ancient times till date. A good reason for the use of the old, traditional method by the Ejigbo people, as proposed by the research findings, is that although the modern ways of making 52 and processing oil palm is less labour intensive and time saving, it involves the investment of large amount of capital, which is too expensive for the people of Ejigbo; as result, the people would rather use the traditional method since it is cheaper.